Enver Hoxha
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party of Labor of Albania

Speech in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Founding of the Party of Labor of Albania and the 44th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
TIRANA, NOVEMBER 7, 1961

(Excerpts)

Delivered: On November 7, 1961, at the "Tirana Festive Meeting Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Founding of the Party of Labor of Albania and the 44th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution."First Publication (in English): In The Party of Labor of Albania in
Battle with Modern Revisionism, "Naim Frasheri" Publishing House, Tirana, Albania, 1972.This Edition: Marxists Internet Archive, 2000.

Dear comrades,

We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our Party in new international conditions very favourable to the forces of peace, democracy and socialism. Twenty years ago, when the Albanian Communist Party was founded, the world was ruled by the capitalist system – a system of oppression and wild exploitation of peoples. The Soviet Union, the first country of victorious socialism, was at that time encircled on all sides by capitalist countries. Whole continents were suffering under the colonial yoke of imperialism. The most reactionary forces of bourgeoisie, the fascist and militarist states, incited by the most aggressive circles of international imperialism, had unleashed the Second World War, they had put under their yoke whole nations and, like wild beasts, they were rushing against the offspring of the great October Socialist Revolution – the Soviet Union.

Today, after 20 years, great radical changes have taken place in the world. Owing to the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet peoples, in the first place, there was achieved the historic victory over fascism; the Soviet Union became the liberator of the enslaved European peoples. New states broke away from the capitalist system and embarked on the road of socialism. The people's revolution triumphed in China; this is the greatest historic event after the October Socialist Revolution. Socialism came out of the borders of a single country and became a world system stretching from the Adriatic coasts to the coasts of the Pacific Ocean; this is the greatest historic victory of the international working class.

The world socialist system, which includes in its fold over 1 billion people with a big economic and military potential continually growing at unprecedented rates, has become today the decisive factor in the development of the world history. It exerts a tremendous influence on the world; it has become a great attractive and revolutionizing force.

The world socialist system is showing with every passing day its indisputable superiority over the capitalist system. It has become the shield of all the progressive forces of the world, the impregnable bulwark of freedom and peace, democracy and socialism.

The irresistible development of socialism and the upsurge of the national-liberation struggle of the peoples inevitably led to the collapse of the colonial slavery system of imperialism. Forty-two new states with a total population of more than 1 billion and 200 million have won freedom and national independence. While after the first world war the countries enslaved and controlled by imperialism made up more than 77 per cent of the territory of the world and accounted for about 70 per cent of the world population now such countries occupy only over 10 per cent of the area and account for about 3 per cent of the world population. The dissolution of the colonial system of imperialism is the second greatest event after the establishment of the world socialist system.

As a result of the establishment and consolidation of the world system of socialism, and of the dissolution of the colonial system of imperialism, the sphere of domination of imperialism has been greatly narrowed, its general crisis has further deepened, all its internal and external class and national contradictions have sharpened. Today imperialism is no more the only ruler and all-powerful ruler in the world. It can no more lord over it. Its laws do not operate everywhere in the world. In front of the capitalist system which is heading towards its inevitable doom, there stands powerful and invincible the world system of socialism round which there have rallied and continue to rally all the revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces which are striving for the national and social liberation.

Such is the reality of our days and this reality convincingly shows that the ratio of forces in the world today has radically and definitely changed to the advantage of socialism and to the detriment of imperialism. The forces of socialism, the forces of national liberation, peace and democracy are superior to the forces of imperialism, colonialism, war and reaction. All these things have created in the world a new situation, very favourable conditions to carry out even more successfully the struggle against imperialism, for peace and for the accomplishment of the socialist, national-liberation, democratic and people's revolutions.

The Party of Labor of Albania recognizes and understands the deep changes that have taken place in the world, the new conditions and phenomena that have arisen. But we reject all and every attempt being made by the present-day revisionists who, under the slogans of the "creative interpretation of Marxism in the new conditions", are spreading their false and opportunistic viewpoints; they are seeking to sell them as a further development of Marxism, and they hasten to stigmatize as dogmatist, sectarian and adventurer anyone who goes on record against such viewpoints. These are known tactics. There is nothing new, nothing original in this. An the revisionists and opportunists, beginning with Bernstein and ending with Tito, under the guise of the "changes in the situation" and of the "new phenomena", have denied the basic principles of Marxism. As V. I. Lenin used to say, by always masking themselves under the slogan of the fight against dogmatism, using "the catch-word: dogmatist", they have risen against Marxism.

From the changes that have occurred in the world, there must be drawn correct, revolutionary, Marxist-Leninist conclusions: there must be drawn such conclusions as not to create reformist and pacifist illusions and weaken the struggle against imperialism, but to strengthen ever more this just struggle: there must be drawn such conclusions as not to alienate the peoples from the cause of revolution, but bring them ever closer to it, not divert them from the struggle for their national liberation, but raise this struggle to an ever higher level.

Let us take the problem of war and peace. Does it mean that the change in the balance of power to the advantage of socialism has brought about also a change in the nature of imperialism, that imperialism has been tied up hands and feet, that it is unable to do anything, to unleash wars and undertake various aggressive actions? Such a conclusion is not only erroneous, but also very harmful. The underestimation of the forces of the enemy and the overestimation of our own forces weakens our vigilance and pushes us into dangerous adventures, just as the underestimation of our own forces and the overestimation of the forces of the enemy leads to unprincipled concessions, to mistakes and opportunist attitudes. Proceeding from the real balance of forces in the world today, our Party has pointed out and continues to point out that in the question of war and peace both eventualities must be considered and we must be prepared for both, for war being prevented, as well as for it being unleashed on the part of the imperialists. Our deep conviction that at the present time a world war and other aggresive wars which imperialism unleashes can be prevented is by no means based on the "good intentions" of the leaders of imperialism, but on the tremendous economic, political and military power of the mighty socialist camp, on the unity and struggle of the international working class, on the resolute efforts of the peoples of the whole world against the imperialist war mongers, on the unity and compactness of all the peace-loving forces.

During all the years of the existence of the people's power, the Government of the People's Republic of Albania has resolutely and consistently pursued a foreign policy which has fully met the interests of our people and country, the interests of freedom and national independence, as well as the interests of the whole camp of socialism and of the cause of peace and progress of human society. The foundation of the foreign policy of the Party of Labor of Albania has always been and remains to be: constant strengthening of the relations of friendship, fraternal cooperation and mutual support and assistance with the countries of the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union; support for the national-liberation, anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle of the oppressed peoples and nations, as well as for the revolutionary struggle of the working people in the capitalist countries; efforts to secure relations of peaceful coexistence of the People's Republic of Albania with the capitalist countries especially with the neighbouring countries; efforts for the preservation and consolidation of peace in the world and in the Balkan and Adriatic area; exposure of the policy of war and aggression pursued by the imperialist powers headed by the United States of America and their partners and tools round our country, such as the Italian imperialists, the Greek monarcho-fascists and the Yugoslav revisionists.

In the foreign policy our Party and Government have always marched hand in hand with the other socialist countries in their efforts for the preservation and strengthening of the world peace. They have always approved and energetically supported the general line of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union and all the other socialist countries for the settlement of the most important international problems. And this foreign policy of the People's Republic of Albania has always met with the full approval of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries which have always considered it as a correct policy to the advantage of our common cause.

But of late, N. Khrushchev and company turned their coat and are accusing us at times of being "adventurists and warmongers" and at times of a "rapprochement" with imperialism. Those who are accusing us, besides slanders and inventions, have no argument, not a single fact to prove that the foreign policy of the People's Republic of Albania has changed. Nothing has changed in our foreign policy. Our attitude also has not changed either in regards the questions of war and peace, or in regards our relations with the other States, and especially with the neighbouring States, or in regards the struggle against imperialism and for the exposure of the Yugoslav revisionists.

Twenty years of life and revolutionary struggle of the Party of Labor of Albania reject all these base slanders and inventions which have caused a profound indignation to and have irritated our people who have heroically fought and continue to fight against imperialism and its henchmen. Those who accuse and slander the Party of Labor of Albania and its leadership are unable to adduce even a single fact that could prove their allegations, while we are in a position to present many documented facts clearly showing their estrangement from the positions of Marxism-Leninism and of the struggle against imperialism. We have never cherished illusions about our enemies, we have not embraced and kissed them, we have not flattered them and we have not caressed them, we have never bowed to them. Our Party and Government have always maintained a firm, principled, Marxist-Leninist stand towards the enemies of peace and socialism; they have sharply and constantly exposed the imperialists, whether U.S. or British, French or Italian, and their policy of war and aggression; they have been irreconcilable with and have energetically and unreservedly supported the just cause of the peoples who have risen in struggle against imperialism. They have rendered all their support to the fraternal Algerian, Cuban, Congolese, Laotian and other peoples in their sacred struggle against imperialism, resolutely condemning all the aggressive attempts of imperialism.

For all this "good" which our Party has done to imperialism during these 20 years, it has been rewarded by it and its tools with a fierce and relentless fight which they have carried out against the People's Republic of Albania through continuous plot and provocations, through diversion, blackmail and successive slanders.

They accuse us of being afraid of imperialism, of being afraid to assume responsibility for the settlement of important international questions. By this they mean the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany and the settlement of the West Berlin problem. The Party of Labor of Albania and the Government of the People's Republic of Albania have not feared and never fear imperialism; they have not feared and never fear their responsibility as a socialist country and as a member of the Warsaw Treaty and they have honourably and strictly fulfilled their internationalist tasks. The attitude of the Party of Labor of Albania and the Government of the People's Republic of Albania towards the German issue is known to the whole world, it is contained in many publicly known documents. The Party of Labor of Albania and the Government of the People's Republic of Albania have always supported and continue to resolutely support the efforts of the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic for a peaceful settlement of the German problem. The viewpoint of our Party and Government has been and remains that the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany and the solution on this basis also of the West Berlin problem are indispensable measures, long since ripe and in the interests of the People's Republic of Albania, of the German Democratic Republic, of the other socialist countries, in the interests of peace and security in Europe. We have stood and stand for the earliest possible settlement of these problems because any procrastination is only to the advantage of our enemies. The declaration of the Central Committee of the Party of Labor of Albania concerning the German question publicly stated that "in any situation and at any dangerous moment we shall fight to the end alongside with the Soviet Union and the other fraternal countries; irrespective of any sacrifice on every occasion and as always we shall solidarize with them to the end and honourably discharge our duty". Such has been, is and will remain the stand of our Party and our Government.

Then the question arises: Who fears indeed, who is afraid of the responsibility for the settlement of the German issue, who is dragging it on? We that have stood and continue to stand for its earliest possible solution or our accusers who have backed out on this question and have dragged it out from year to year?

Or let us take the disarmament problem. It is a matter of common knowledge that our Government has supported the Soviet Union's proposal for a total and complete disarmament because as long as the arms exist and the armament race is being conducted, as long as a total and complete disarmament is not effected, there is no security for peace. The Soviet Government, jointly with our Government, have forwarded the proposal to convert the Adriatic and the Balkans into a peace area, without bases for atomic weapons land rockets. But the proposals of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries for a total and complete disarmament and for the creation of peace areas have been rejected by the imperialist powers. In such conditions our Government has supported and fully supports the Soviet Government's decision on the resumption of the nuclear weapon tests as a very important and indispensable measure for the security of the Soviet Union and the whole socialist camp, for bridling the imperialist powers headed by the United States of America and the Bonn revenge-seekers, who have intensified to the maximum the frenzied armaments race and the feverish preparations for a new world war. We are aware that disarmament is a difficult problem. To force its solution upon the imperialists, great efforts must be made as well as resolute struggle must be waged by the socialist countries and all the peace-loving forces. But N. Khrushchev, instead of pursuing such a correct path, is seeking to disarm a socialist country such as the People's Republic of Albania, which is encircled on all parts by enemies. By weakening the defensive might of the People's Republic of Albania he damages not only the interests of our country, but also those of the entire camp of socialism. And all this is done at a time when the U.S. 6th fleet is roaming about like a monster in the Mediterranean, when U.S. rocket bases have been established in Greece and Italy, when the NATO forces are feverishly continuing their armaments race, when the imperialists and revenge-seekers of West Germany are sabrerattling and seriously endangering the world peace. The Albanian Government was not guilty of and bore no responsibility for this. But, at any case N. Khrushchev should by no means go to such lengths as to openly incite the imperialists and various reactionaries against a socialist country such as the People's Republic of Albania. However the defense of the Albanian borders is fully ensured.

In conditions when there exist in the world states with different social systems, the only just principle to govern the relations between them is the principle of peaceful coexistence, a principle outlined by Lenin and implemented also by Stalin. Our Party of Labor has always thought and thinks that the policy of peaceful coexistence meets the vital interests of all the peoples, both of the socialist and capitalist countries; it meets the aim of the further strengthening of the positions of socialism and universal peace. Therefore, this principle underlies the relations of our socialist state with the other non-socialist states.

It is absurd to accuse our Party and socialist State of allegedly standing against peaceful coexistence. This slander is refuted by the entire practical activity of our State in the field of foreign policy. We are not opposed to the principle of peaceful coexistence, but we do not agree with some opportunist viewpoints of N. Khrushchev and his followers who consider the peaceful coexistence as the general line of foreign policy of the socialist countries, as the main road to the victory of socialism on a world scale, who for the sake of peaceful coexistence renounce the struggle for the exposure of imperialism, who negate almost completely the ideological and political struggle against the Yugoslav revisionism under the pretext that in some foreign policy issues Yugoslavia supports the Soviet proposals. Such an interpretation of peaceful coexistence is erroneous and anti-Marxist because it leads to the denial of the class struggle. The correct implementation of the policy of peaceful coexistence, implying also the exposure of imperialism and its policy of war and aggression, must promote the development of the struggle of the working class of the capitalist countries, as well as the national-liberation movement in the colonial and dependent countries. On their part, the successes of the revolutionary class and national-liberation struggle, by narrowing and weakening the positions of imperialism, promote the cause of peace and peaceful coexistence. The communist parties in the capitalist countries, parallel with the struggle to force the policy of peaceful coexistence on the bourgeois governments of their countries, are waging at the same time the class struggle for the overthrow of the bourgeois power, for the transition to socialism according to the specific conditions of every country.

As regards the forms of transition to socialism, N. Khrushchev badly complicated this question, too, at the 20th Congress and later. He almost raised to absolute the peaceful way of the seizure of power by the working class, and thus the illusion was created that allegedly the working class and its communist party would be able to take power in their hands only by securing a parliamentary majority. Such theses were approved only by the revisionists and various opportunists who used them to justify their anti-Marxist viewpoints. We, the Albanian communists, have never been and are not a priori opposed to the peaceful way. But the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, the historical experience and the reality of the present days teach us that, to secure the victory of the cause of socialism, the working class and its party must prepare themselves simultaneously for both eventualities – the peaceful way and the non-peaceful one. To take one's bearings only from one of these eventualities it means to embark on an erroneous path. Only by getting well prepared, especially for the non-peaceful way, the chances grow also for the peaceful way.

This is how we understand the peaceful coexistence and its connection with the class struggle. This is how we understand and implement the policy of peaceful coexistence with the other non-socialist states, and in the first place with our neighbours.

It is strange that Nikita Khrushchev and his followers demand from us that we should put into effect the peaceful coexistence with our Greek neighbors. They accuse us of not marching along the same road with them as regards the proposals for the disarmament of the Balkan countries, they accuse us of not making efforts "for a Balkan understanding"; they join the chorus of Tito and Karamanlis that we are allegedly the"warmongers of the Balkans" at a time when Greece continues to consider herself in a "state of war" with Albania, when she advances territorial claims towards our country and is plotting to attack Albania, when monarcho-fascist Greece has become a fortress armed to the teeth by the American imperialists against our socialist countries. The charges of our criticizers are groundless, for no reasonable man can think that little Albania, encircled as she is by wolves which for 17 years in succession have sought to swallow her alive, does not stand for peace and disarmament.

How much monarcho-fascist Greece disarmed and to what extent the hopes of those believing in such a thing were realized, this is a matter of common knowledge, it is shown by life, but that we should avoid criticizing Nikita Khrushchev (and this criticism was made by us in a comradely way) when he gives hopes to Sophocles Venizelos for an "autonomy of South Albania", this would be a treason on our part. Nikita Khrushchev did not like our just criticism. This is the least evil. But he turned our criticism into a countercharge, accusing us of allegedly slandering the Soviet Union, which has liberated us and is defending us. This, of course, is machiavellian. But later the devil showed again his horns. At the time when the Americans, Greeks and Turks were carrying out their large-scale military manoeuvres around the borders of Albania and Bulgaria, N. Khrushchev, in his statement to the "New York Times" reporter, Sultzberger, on September 10th, 1961, textually said: "You (Americans) have established bases also in Greece and you are threatening from there our ally Bulgaria". Has not perhaps monarcho-fascist Greece installed rockets also against Albania? How long is it that Nikita Khrushchev has decided that Albania should be no more an ally of the Soviet Union? This is monstruous. Are these unimportant questions? Is it permissible to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union even if he and socialist Albania were at daggers drawn, to openly tell the Greek reaction that socialist Albania is no more an ally of the Soviet Union and inform president Kennedy that "the relations between the Soviet Union and Albania have deteriorated"?

It is we, therefore, according to some, that view things as "sectarian nationalists", while others, who speculate on the interests of our people, are Marxists. Tomorrow, these same criticizers may hold us responsible also for the losses in election of the Greek progressive party – EDA. Do perhaps these selfstyled Marxists think that we should hand the keys of our country to the Greek monarcho-fascists so that "their line of peaceful coexistence" may win or the seizure of power in Greece "in a peaceful and parliamentary way" may be achieved? No, they should not expect this from us. These selfstyled Marxists should not forget that the Party of Labor of Albania and the Albanian people have shown their great internationalism by saving tens of thousands of heroes of the Greek people and of the Greek Communist Party who, we are certain, do not spit the horse after having crossed the river.

Such is the foreign policy that has been pursued by our Party and our Government. Such are our viewpoints about the problems of the present day world development. It is precisely for these attitudes and these viewpoints that we are criticized, it is for this that N. Khrushchev attacked us at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In this way, he first, unilaterally, made public our disputes, providing weapons to the enemy and assuming thereby a heavy historic responsibility as a splitter of the unity of the international communist movement and of the socialist camp. Our Party of Labor has never publicly expressed our differences; it has dwelt on them only at party meetings, but now that N. Khrushchev made them public, our Party, too, is obliged to state openly its viewpoints.

N. Khrushchev, accusing our Party in his speeches at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said that the Albanian-Soviet relations were spoiled for the fault of the Albanian leaders. It is well known that the 20 years of revolutionary activity of our Party are 20 years of a tremendous work for the promotion of friendship between the Albanian people and the Soviet peoples, for the establishment of closer fraternal ties between the People's Republic of Albania and the Soviet Union; they are 20 years of exemplary cooperation between our Party and the glorious Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Twenty years of the activity of our Party are 20 years of sincere faithfulness, of great fraternal love of our Party for Lenin's great Party which has always been, is and will remain for us a source of inspiration and experience, from which we have learned and shall learn how to work and strive for the good of our peoples, for the cause of socialism and communism. Twenty years of the activity of our Party have been years of an unspared and allround assistance by the Soviet Union to the Albanian people, of a fraternal internationalist aid, which our Party and Government have rightly utilized for the economic development of our country, for the up-building of socialism in Albania, for the improvement of the living standards of the Albanian people.

In such conditions it is absurd and incredible to everyone to allege that it is the Albanian leaders who "without any reason" and with "an amazing quickness" have changed their attitude towards the Soviet Union, towards the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Incredible is also the monstruous slander that the Albanian leaders have allegedly linked themselves to imperialism and have allegedly sold themselves to it for 30 pieces of silver. Such "discoveries" may be believed by those who are fond of tales and detective novels, but by no serious man, for every honest person who knows somewhat the twenty-year old history of our Party can not fail to see that such a slander is not justified by any stand of our Party, by any action of its leaders. The Party of Labor of Albania, during its entire revolutionary path, has always fought and continues to fight with determination against imperialism and its agents; never in the past, at present and in the future has it stretched, is stretching or will stretch its hand to anybody for pittance, and less so to imperialism and its allies. It has received and receives from its friends and brothers of the countries of the socialist camp not alms, but only internationalist aids in credit and it will continue to receive in the future, too, only from those socialist countries which will desire to offer to it such an aid. We ask for alms, from nobody. If N. Khrushchev and his followers, for one or another reason, do not like to help us, they are expecting us in vain to address ourselves to the imperialists and their allies for "alms". Our people have friends and comrades in the socialist countries who have not abandoned and will not abandon them. But, regardless of this, we tell N. Khrushchev that the Albanian people and their Party of Labor will live even on grass, if need be, but they will never sell themselves for 30 pieces of silver, for they prefer to die standing and with honour rather than live with shame and knelt down.

Why then did the Soviet-Albanian relations deteriorate? This is clear and well-known to N. Khrushchev himself and to the international communist movement. Khrushchev knows the cause, for he himself is the culprit. We shall say only this: that the June 1960 Bucharest meeting was the starting point.

Differences had existed between our Party of Labor and the Soviet leadership even prior to June 1960 on some questions of ideological and political nature; however they have not exerted any negative influence on the relations between our two socialist states, between our two Marxist-Leninist parties.

The Party of Labor of Albania has always declared, and declares now, too, that the experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the experience of its congresses, including here also the 20th and the 22nd Congresses, have been, are and will always be a great help on our road for the up-building of the socialist and communist society. However, as regards some special theses of principle of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union our Party has not been and is not of the same opinion with the Soviet leadership, just as it is not also at present as regards some special questions of the 22nd Congress or of the new programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union approved by the 22nd Congress. Is not our Party entitled to this? Is this not consistent with the teachings of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism? Can this be considered as an anti-Soviet attitude, as they are trying to accuse us?

The Soviet leaders consider as anti-marxist, dogmatist, sectarian, and opposed to proletarian internationalism, etc., any party that is not of the same opinion with them as regards some theses of principle which were raised at the 20th Congress. Moreover, the former member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union E. Furtseva went to such lengths as to declare from the rostrum of the 22nd Congress that "how can call themselves communists those persons who do not accept the decisions of the 20th Congress of our Party?" (Although we say that we do not agree with some theses of the 20th Congress, the Soviet leaders like to round out things and say the whole 20th Congress). That is, according to some Soviet leaders, the criterion of loyalty towards Marxism-Leninism, towards communism and proletarian internationalism, is allegedly the attitude towards the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Can such a logic be Marxist? If all the communist and workers parties in the world would adopt the new criteria invented by Furtseva, then only the disagreement, let us say, with many revisionist theses of the 8th Congress of the Italian Communist Party would throw into misfortune millions of communists in the world and difficulties would be created for them, for they would not know to what address they should hand their party cards.

According to the Leninist principles governing the relations between Marxist parties, however important the congress of a party may be, however great and authoritative the party of a country may be, the decisions of its congress are binding only for its members. In the international communist movement all the parties – the Moscow Declaration points out – are equal and independent, they work out their policies proceeding from the specific conditions of their countries and guiding themselves by the principles of Marxism-Leninism. The attempt to make the decisions of the congress of a party as international norms binding for all the parties is a crude violation of the principles of equality and independence of the Marxist-Leninist parties; it is in open contrast with proletarian internationalism. Therefore, it is not our Party, but the Soviet leadership, headed by N. Khrushchev, that has deviated from the positions of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, seeking to force its course upon the other parties, demanding from them to renounce their own viewpoints and obey and submit to them.

Whether our Party stands or not on the positions of Marxism-Leninism, this is by no means determined by its critical attitude towards some theses expressed by the leaders of some fraternal parties, nor by the subjective evaluation that may be made of its line and activity by N. Khrushchev and his followers. The criterion of truth is life, practice; therefore the individuals and the various parties should be judged by the facts, by their practical activity. The path traversed by the Party of Labor of Albania, the line it has pursued right from its founding, its 20-year old political activity, are the most convincing facts attesting to its firm loyalty towards Marxism-Leninism, towards the great cause of socialism and communism as well as towards the cause of the world peace.

Our Party of Labor has made its special remarks about some theses of principle of the 20th Congress and about some stands of the Soviet leaders, with which it has not agreed, through normal party channels, observing thereby all the jointly established principles governing the relations between the fraternal parties. As regards our remarks relating to the foreign policy and the problems of the present-day world development, we mentioned them above. Let us now see another important problem about which we have held and continue to hold opinions different from those of the Soviet leaders. The question is about the attitude towards J. V. Stalin and his work.

According to the views of our Party, N. Khrushchev had to uncrown first J. V. Stalin and his work in order to forward his opportunist theses to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and spread them later. He did this by his special report delivered at the 20th congress "Concerning the personality cult and its consequences". Our Party has not agreed and does not agree with the criticism against Stalin, as it was effected at the 20th Congress and later.

N. Khrushchev, slandering our Party at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and crudely interfering with our domestic affairs, said that the Albanian leaders were against the criticism of Stalin's personality cult because the personality cult methods are allegedly thriving in our Party, that terror and injustice are allegedly reigning in Albania. We shall not stop here to reject these slanders, but the fact that their author has fallen so low as to mobilize the public opinion against our Party using such "arguments" borrowed from the most rabid enemies of socialism and communism, shows his dark aims. It is evident that by linking at the 22nd Congress his unsubstantiated attacks on the Party of Labor of Albania with his "fight against Stalin's cult and the anti-party group", N. Khrushchev aimed at showing the "analogy" between the alleged "Albanian Stalinism" and the "epoch of the Stalinist crimes" in the Soviet Union, in order to create in this way the "atmosphere" he needed at the Congress and in the world public opinion to make his slanders more credible.

The Party of Labor of Albania has always taken and continues to take account of the teachings of Marxism-Leninism concerning the role of the masses, classes, party and leaders. It has always considered and continues to consider the manifestation of the personality cult as phenomenon alien to Marxism-Leninism, harmful to a communist and workers' party. Our Party has not hesitated, when the case has been, to criticize while still in embryo the various manifestations of this kind among its ranks as it did at its Third Congress. Likewise, our Party, when the case has been, has boldly fought and has nipped in the bud any violation of the revolutionary legality, any abuse of the state power by anybody, as it did at its First Congress. Everybody knows what was the fate of the enemy of the Party and people Koçi Xoxe and company, who before the year 1948, incited by the Yugoslav revisionists and abusing the trust given to them by the people and Party, violated the state laws in order to dig the grave to the Party and state cadres.

There does not exist in our Party either the sickness of the personality cult or the violation of the socialist legality. But at the same time, while guarding itself against the manifestations of the personality cult, our Party, in a correct Marxist-Leninist way, nourished love and respect for its leaders strictly observing the socialist legality, our Party and our people's power are severe towards the enemies of our People's Republic, towards all those who seek to bury the historic victories of our people.

The Party of Labor of Albania, therefore, has been and is opposed to the criticism done to J. V. Stalin at the 20th Congress and which was repeated also at the 22nd Congress for some other reasons of principle.

According to the viewpoint of our Party, J. V. Stalin, in his entire theoretical and practical activity, has been and remains one of the most distinguished leaders and personalities not only of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but also of the international communist and worker's movement, one of the most ardent defenders and greatest theoreticians of Marxism-Leninism. His great historic merit lies in the fact that for many years in succession he had been a loyal disciple and determined comrade-in-arms of V. I. Lenin in the struggle for the overthrow of Tzarism and the triumph of the Great October Socialist Revolution; while following Lenin's death, heading the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he faithfully defended Leninism against the rabid attacks by the Trotskyites, Bukharinites, Zinovievites and other enemies and routed them ideologically and politically. J. V. Stalin, as the main leader of the Party, made a great contribution to the successful direction of the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union and the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against fascism; he further developed Marxism-Leninism in a series of important questions of the Soviet socialist society and the construction of socialism and communism; he made a valuable contribution to the consolidation of the socialist camp and the international communist movement, as well as to the exposure of modern revisionism in the person of Tito's revisionist traitorous group. By thus appraising J. V. Stalin's activity, there is not doubt that the errors he may have committed during the last years of his life were partial and they cannot serve as a criterion to make a general evaluation of J. V. Stalin's person and his activity. In the general evaluation of J. V. Stalin's activity, in the foreground stand his great merits, his fight for the defense of Leninism, his struggle for the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union, his struggle for the creation and consolidation of the socialist camp, for the strengthening of the unity of the international communist and workers' movement; his consistent fight against imperialism; his policy for the defence of peace and the peaceful coexistence. They constitute his main characteristic feature as a leader and as a communist. Such has been and remains the firm position of the Party of Labor of Albania relating to the evaluation of J. V. Stalin's work.

N. Khrushchev's wrong position in his criticism against J. V. Stalin lies in the fact that:

a) he unilaterally and tendentiously exaggerated beyond measure J. V. Stalin's mistakes going even to such lengths as to make base slanders against him. Stalin was presented by him almost as an "enemy" of the Soviet Union and communism; he was characterized as "brutal", "capricious", as a "despot", "murderer", "blood-thirsty" and "criminal" towards the Party cadres and the loyal and tested revolutionaries, and as a "dupe" of the imperialists and fascists, as a man who committed great "follies", both in practice and theoretical questions, who did not "understand" of what was being done in the Soviet Union, who manifested a "lack of respect towards Lenin's memory", and many other charges of this kind. The detached statements made at the 20th Congress and after it, to the effect that Stalin remains a distinguished Marxist-Leninist, etc., are entirely formal and were made to mitigate the bad impression and the lawful anger aroused in the communists of the whole world by these accusations against Stalin. In fact, neither at the 20th Congress nor up today the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its propaganda has made no positive appraisal of J. V. Stalin's theoretical legacy to show his positive sides and his contribution to the defense and further development of Marxism-Leninism. This in humane attitude reached its climax at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, where not only were repeated the accusations of the 20th Congress, this time publicly, but there was adopted also a special decision to remove J. V. Stalin's embalmed body from the mausoleum. Unable to reject Stalin by arguments of principle in the field of theoretical activity and creativeness, Khrushchev, in order to fight Stalin, introduces the question into the police and espionage field, and he took measures also for the liquidation of Stalin's corpse. How much hypocritically sound, following all these actions, N. Khrushchev's words pronounced in January 1957 to the effect that

"when it was the question of the revolution, of the defense of the interests of the class of the proletariat, in the revolutionary struggle against our class enemies, Stalin defended bravely and irreconciliably the cause of Marxism-Leninism", that "in the main and fundamental thing – and the main and fundamental thing for the Marxist-Leninists is the defense of working class interests, of the cause of socialism, the fight against the enemies of Marxism-Leninism – in this main and fundamental thing, as it is said, pray god every communist be able to fight as Stalin fought".

b) N. Khrushchev, at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the soviet propaganda following that congress, unilaterally treated the question of the fight against the personality cult, throwing into oblivion the Leninist doctrine about the relations among the masses, classes, parties and leaders. The great Lenin, especially in his book of genius Leftism – Infantile Sickness in Communism[i.e. Left-Wing Communism - an Infantile Disorder], forcefully pointed out the indispensability of the creation, in every Marxist party, of a group of leaders, more or less permanent, composed of the most authoritative, most influential and most experienced persons. Without such a stable leadership the struggle of the working class and its communist party cannot be crowned with success. In contrast with these clear teachings of Lenin, at the 20th Congress, under the pretext of the fight against the personality cult, the mass democracy was contraposed to the role of the leaders. It is not bad to recall what V. I. Lenin writes in connection with this:

"To arrive for this reason at such a point as to oppose in general the dictatorship of the masses to the dictatorship of the leaders, is an absurdity and a folly. It is especially ridiculous when you see that the old leaders who had human viewpoints about simple things, are indeed replaced (under the mask of the slogan: "down with the leaders!") by young leaders who say nonsenses which weigh nothing." (V. I. Lenin, Works, vol. 31, p. 31, Albanian ed.).

N. Khrushchev and his group used for their own anti-Marxist aims – and this is becoming ever more clear – the alleged "principled criticism" against Stalin's personality cult. How he used it and for what purposes he is acting in the internal plan (in the Soviet Union and in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) this is not our business, this may be judged only by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Despite this, we can but note that in fact N. Khrushchev, dealing with the "crimes" that have been committed in Stalin's epoch, with the "murders of the innocent people", with the "elimination of thousands of cadres" through "false" court trials, with the regime of "terror", which is described with an unbridled enthusiasm, in the darkest colours, making all these things known to the international public opinion, is rendering a very bad service to the Soviet Union, pleasing only the imperialists and all the enemies of communism. N. Khrushchev has accused the leadership of our Party of the just criticism, also at party meetings, against some unlawful actions with regard to our country, alleging that the Albanian leaders "throw mud at the Soviet Union".

But how should we call this same unbridled zeal of his to darken a whole glorious epoch, the epoch of the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union, to discredit before the eyes of the whole world the glory of the Soviet Union, presenting it as the country where terror and murders have allegedly reigned, just as the whole reactionary bourgeois press has propagandized and is propagandizing?

Is it not he himself that, by his actions, is discrediting the Soviet Union? Is he not gravely offending the heroism of the Soviet peoples who, in struggle with internal and external enemies, in struggle with countless difficulties and obstacles, under the leadership of their Communist Party which was led by Stalin, laid the foundations of the socialist and communist society in the Soviet Union, when he proposes that there should be erected in Moscow a memorial to the "victims" of the personality cult? Someone calls such actions a "bold self-criticism". Let them think more deeply about how much good and how many evils has this kind of "bold self-criticism" brought to the Soviet Union and the communist movement.

N. Khrushchev, speaking of the "iniquities" and "victims of the period of the personality cult", declaring the various court trials as framed-up, regardless of the fact that in all that struggle there might have been made also some mistakes, appears to be consistent with his anti-Marxist concepts about imperialism and its servitors. Indeed, he rendered a service to imperialism, for he presents it as not dangerous to the countries which are building up socialism; he is weakening the vigilance of the peoples in their struggle against the espionage network of imperialism which has acted and is fiercely acting against the socialist camp. N. Khrushchev adopted his tactics of silence also towards the plot organized by the Yugoslav revisionists, the Greek monarcho-fascist and the United States 6th fleet, a plot which was exposed in our country a few months ago. Moreover, after having recommended these tactics also to some other fraternal parties, he spread the slogan that the plot was an invention, that the participants in this plot were "patriots and honest fighters", whom later, at the 22nd congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in his concluding speech, he openly took them under his protection. While not long ago N. Khrushchev formally accused the Albanian leaders of being connected with the imperialist espionage. Therefore, according to his logic, it follows that he who fights against imperialism, he who fights against its agents, he who fights for the defense of the freedom and independence of the socialist homeland, is an agent of imperialism. And conversely, he who rises against the people's power and the Party, he who places himself at the service of the enemies of socialism, is a "martyr", a "good patriot", he is taken under protection by the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to such persons there will be erected memorials also.

The question of the fight against Stalin's cult has been used by N. Khrushchev to uncrown Leninism, to prepare the ground to revise Marxism-Leninism and spread his opportunist views in the most important questions of the present-day world development and the international communist movement. This action and the tactics of his are neither new nor original. In fact, in his fight against Leninism Trotsky, too, used the same tactics.

". . . Trotsky in his writings – J. V. Stalin says – makes one more (one more!) attempt to prepare the conditions for the substitution of Trotskyism to Leninism. Trotsky has to discredit, at all costs, the Party, its cadres that carried out the uprising with a view to passing from the discredit of the Party to the discredit of Leninism. While he needs the discredit of Leninism to smuggle in Trotskyism as the "only" "proletarian" ideology (don't take it for a joke). All this is certainly (yes, certainly), done under the banner of Leninism, so that the procedure of this smuggling should be carried out "without any damage at all". (J. V. Stalin, Works, vol. 6, p. 361, Albanian ed.).

N. Khrushchev used Stalin's question to strike on the healthy Marxist-Leninist elements in the leaderships of the communist and workers' parties of the different countries, to scare, and in case of resistance, also to liquidate any one who would dare to object; to reduce to silence the other parties and various leaders who would not support his revisionist views, his course. The question of the personality cult, in short, was used as a bugbear to exercise pressure on the other parties and to liquidate the leaders who were not to the liking of N. Khrushchev. These aims which, but recently, were concealed by him, covering them with a "principled" and "Marxist" phraseology, were openly stated at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev said in his speech:

"To put an end to the personality cult means for Shehu, Hoxha and others to renounce in essence the commanding posts in the Party and state". And added that "such a thing they do not want to do".

If we take account of the fact that in the same speech he, as we mentioned above, takes under protection and considers as patriots the anti-party elements and agents of imperialism, participants in the plot organized by the imperialists against the People's Republic of Albania, then clearly follows N. Khrushchev's "principled" fight against the personality cult in Albania, his great concern! He is seeking to liquidate the present-day leaders of our Party and place in their stead the anti-party elements and any plotter, agent of imperialism.

That N. Khrushchev, under the pretext of the fight against the personality cult, is seeking to uncrown Leninism in order to pave the way to revisionism, is known also by the fact that he is by no means concerned with the just and principled. Marxist-Leninist fight against the personality cult. For, if such were the case, irrespective of his demagogical words, he could not have helped noticing that at present in the Soviet Union manifestations of the personality cult are appearing with every passing day, and even in more open and exalting forms for his own person. Thus, one can hardly find an issue of the Soviet illustrated reviews in which one will not find pictures of N. Khrushchev; the pages of the Soviet press are full of quotations from his speeches, he is the only one to speak in all parts and about all questions; a whole film is devoted to his life, and other films to his visits to various countries of the world: numerous praises are made to him in various speeches and writings attributing to him personally the greatest successes of the Soviet people in the field of the development of industry, science and technology. Great, feverish efforts are being exerted to present Khrushchev not only as a "great military strategist", but also almost as an "architect" of the victory over fascism in the Second World War.

Where does then lie N. Khrushchev's respect for principles in the fight against the manifestations of the personality cult, which he so noisily advertizes in his unprincipled fight against the other fraternal parties and their leaders?

This is why, comrades, our Party has not agreed and does not agree with the Soviet leadership in the question of their criticism towards Stalin.

Our Party of Labor has not agreed and does not agree with the Soviet leadership also as regards the question of the attitude towards the present-day revisionism, and especially towards the traitorous clique of the Yugoslav revisionists. N. Khrushchev and his group used Stalin's issue and the issue of the personality cult also to prepare the ground for the complete rehabilitation of Tito's revisionist and traitorous clique, to present it as a "victim" of Stalin's errors, encouraging thereby the revisionist renegades, wherever they are, to begin their activity against Marxism-Leninism under the demagogical slogans of "anti-Stalinism", etc.

It is known that Tito's revisionist clique was publicly condemned both by the known letters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the Soviet Union, signed by J. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov, and by the June 1948 resolution of the Information Bureau of some communist and workers' parties "Concerning the situation in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia" which was later supported by all the communist and workers' parties of the world. Later on, in November 1949, a second resolution of the Information Bureau was issued stating that the Tito clique had finally degenerated into an espionage center of imperialism, that it had liquidated the gains of the revolution in Yugoslavia, that it had diverted Yugoslavia from the road to socialism and the socialist camp and placed her on the economic and political dependence of imperialism, that the Tito gang waged a broad-scale activity of espionage and plots against the various socialist countries, that it supported in different forms the imperialist policy of war and aggression, etc.

The viewpoint of the Party of Labor of Albania has been and remains that the conclusions of Stalin and the Information Bureau in connection with the renegade revisionist clique of Tito, have been and remain correct. These conclusions have been borne out and are being borne out both by the Yugoslav reality at that time and the later and present day events. The Yugoslav revisionists became the centre of diversion and plots at the imperialist service against the countries of the socialist camp. Under their direction was working in Albania Koçi Xoxe's gang, which aimed at destroying the Party of Labor and at liquidating the people's power. From Tito's Yugoslavia were illegally smuggled in the socialist countries hundreds and thousands of agents and provocators, spies and diversionists, whose duty was terror, sabotage, hatching up of plots against socialism in these countries. Tito's revisionists clique has more and more openly since 1948 and on, placed itself at the service of the U.S. imperialism, with which it is linked with the millions and billions of dollars in the form of U.S. economic and military credits to Yugoslavia, with which it is linked by the participation in the Balkan, Pact, which is nothing else but an appendage to the Atlantic Pact, with which it is linked by the policy of diversion and plots against the socialist countries and the national liberation movement of the newly liberated peoples or of those still suffering under the clutches of colonialism.

Until 1955, all the communist and workers' parties were unanimous in condemning the Yugoslav revisionist leadership and were waging a firm and principled ideological-political struggle against it. However, precisely at that time N. Khrushchev announced that towards Jugoslavia and her leaders had allegedly been done a great in justice, that "under the influence of the agent Beria" groundless charges had been levelled against them, that in the Yugoslav issue, too, J. V. Stalin had allegely made a serious mistake. And immediately he took the initiative, went to Belgrade, where he called Tito "dear comrade", threw to the basket onesidedly the resolution of the Information Bureau and loudly announced that Yugoslavia is a socialist country and that the Yugoslav leaders, although they have some waverings, are in general Marxist-Leninists.

What does the experience, what does the life show? The experience and life both before and after 1955 show that in the assessment of the Yugoslav question Stalin and the Information Bureau were right, because their assessment rested on objective facts, on the teachings of Marxism-Leninism. The experience and the practical life, on the other hand, show that in their stand towards Tito's revisionist clique N. Khrushchev and those who follow him are not right, because their actions are based on subjective viewpoints and are contrary to the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, contrary to the objective reality.

Let us refer to facts. What have been the results of the efforts to rehabilitate the Tito clique? The Yugoslav revisionist leaders have given up neither their anti-Marxist viewpoints nor their hostile activity against the socialist camp and the fraternal Communist and workers' parties. The most obvious result brought about by N. Khrushchev's efforts was the fact that after 1955, possibilities were created for the gang of Yugoslav renegades to act more freely against the world communist movement and the countries of the socialist camp under the guise of the "persecuted comrade", exploiting in this direction even the patronage of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The rehabilitation of the Yugoslav revisionists brought with it also the rehabilitation of all their agents and companions in some fraternal parties where, under the mask of "correcting the mistakes", a true campaign started against the sound cadres of the Party and an activation of all the anti-Party elements. This happened in some parties of the socialist countries in Europe, as well as in some parties of the capitalist countries. The most typical in this direction are the events of Hungary, where the activation of the revisionist elements, headed by Imre Nagy, who had the active support and instigation of the Yugoslav revisionists, led up to the outbreak of the counter-revolution, which put in danger the very existence of Hungary as a people's democratic state.

In spite of this, N. Khrushchev continuously, with great confidence in Tito and his companions pursued insistently the policy of rapprochement flatteries and caresses with the Yugoslav revisionists. The events of Hungary show still more clearly this stand. When the counter-revolution started in Hungary, it was clear to everybody that in the Hungarian events a base role was being played by the Yugoslav revisionists. This was seen in their influence in the counter-revolutionary discussions of the "Petoefi" club, this was seen during the counter revolutionary uprising and the enthusiasm expressed by the Yugoslav revisionists at that time, but it was still more clearly seen also in the fact that the traitor Imre Nagy, after the smashing of the counter-revolution, found asylum at the Yugoslav embassy in Budapest. Instead of mercilessly unmasking the Belgrade renegades as direct inspirers of the counter-revolutionary coup in Hungary, N. Khrushchev tried in every way to mitigate their responsibility, to minimize it and, finally, to eliminate it entirely. The former ambassador of the Soviet Union at that time in Albania, L. I. Krylov, communicated to the Central Committee of the Party of Labor of Albania the letter that N. Khrushchev had sent on November 9th, 1956 to J. B. Tito. In this letter, among other things, Khrushchev wrote to Tito the following:

"The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has examined your last letter. We consider it possible to agree with your viewpoints that no special importance should be given now to the question whether the Yugoslav embassy in Budapest has acted correctly or not by giving asylum to Imre Nagy and his companions. We are noting with satisfaction that since the Brionit talks you have been in full agreement with our stand towards comrade Janos Kadar as a distinguished personality and with revolutionary authority in Hungary, capable in these difficult moments and conditions to head the new revolutionary government. . . You were fully satisfied with the fact the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, since the summer of this year, in connection with the departure of Rakoshi, was trying that comrade Kadar should become first secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Working Peoples' Party".

Any comment in connection with this letter is superfluous. This letter shows very clearly that the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, trampling under foot any regulation determining the relations between the fraternal parties, has gone so far as to interfere even in an issue of so important and markedly internal party character, as is the appointment in the place of the first secretary of a fraternal party of this or that person. It shows also very clearly that N. Khrushchev has been long since in full agreement with J. B. Tito, that he has deemed it reasonable that for everything, even for the "appointment" of the first secretary of another Party, to consult J. B. Tito, this enemy of socialism, the very inspirer and organiser of the counter-revolution in Hungary.

From this it is clearly understood and is entirely logical why N. Khrushchev tried to see the question of the Yugoslav intervention in the Hungarian events closed: because two things cannot be done simultaneously, both to consult Tito and to expose Tito.

After Tito's notorious speech in Pula in November 1956, the struggle of the communist and workers' parties against the Yugoslav revisionism was enlivened and the Yugoslav leaders were criticised for their stand. But the traitorous Tito group not only did not make any selfcriticism or any positive step towards the communist movement, but in 1958 it considered it convenient to formulate and sum up its revisionist ideas in the Program of the Yugoslav Communist League which was published as a counterweight to the Moscow Declaration of the Communist and Workers' Parties of November 1957. It seemed already as if there was no more room even for the least illusion, because Tito and his group had openly written in their program what they were hiding for years under demagogical pseudo-Marxist and pseudo-socialist slogans. But what did happen? At the beginning, N. Khrushchev, who felt himself embarassed before the public opinion and the international communist movement, although half-heartedly, took a stand concerning the Yugoslav revisionists. But this did not last long. With a wonderful nimbleness and contrary to the most elementary logic, he, at the Fifth Congress of the Socialist United Party of Germany in July 1 gave the orientation not to speak of the Yugoslav revisionists, by saying:

"In our struggle for the common questions we should not devote to the Yugoslav revisionists more attention than they deserve. They want that their value should be raised, that people should think that they are the center of the world. . . We will not help in fanning the passions, in aggravating the relations. Even, in the situation created in our relations with the Yugoslav Communist League, it will be useful to retain a spark of hope, to seek acceptable forms for some questions."

He stressed this also during his visit in Albania in May 1959. At the same time, again started to circulate more and more often the word on "comrade Tito", propaganda started again that "Yugoslavia is a socialist state", that between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia "there exists mutual understanding on many problems of the foreign policy".

It is appropriate to recall that V. I. Lenin in his time has waged an irreconciliable fight not only against opportunism, but also against those who preached the "unity" with the opportunists.

The revisionist group of the Yugoslav leadership, being left unmolested in their treacherous, anti-socialist and plotting work, continued with a greater intensity their activity, both to split the communist movement and to undermine the national liberation and anti-imperialist movement of the peoples fighting for freedom, or that have just won their national freedom. With every passing day the Yugoslav revisionists showed themselves enemies of communism and of the peoples freedom. Precisely because Tito's revisionist gang is such, the representatives of 81 fraternal communist and workers' parties resolutely condemned in the 1960 Moscow Declaration the Yugoslav revisionist leaders. As it is known the Declaration stresses that the Yugoslav leaders, having betrayed Marxism-Leninism, detached their country from the socialist camp, put it under the dependence of the socalled "aid" of the U.S. and other imperialists and in this way created the danger of losing the revolutionary gains reached with the heroic struggle of the Yugoslav people; that the Yugoslav revisionists are carrying out an undermining activity against the socialist camp and the international communist movement, that under the pretext of the policy of non-alignment they conduct an activity which brings harm to the question of the unity of all the peaceloving forces and states. Finally, the Declaration stresses the need for a continuous struggle to expose fully the group of Yugoslav leaders.

However, after November 1960, in the majority of occasions, these correct theses of the Declaration were thrown into oblivion by the Soviet leadership. More than that, as if to encourage Tito's revisionist clique, to "appease" its resentment, Soviet leaders saw it reasonable to make warm official statements at the address of the Yugoslav "comrades". Thus, only a few days after the issuing of the Declaration of the 81 fraternal parties, the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union A. Gromyko, at the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, on December 23rd, 1960, stated that in some fundamental things the foreign policy of the Soviet Union is fully compatible with the foreign policy of Yugoslavia. While N. Khrushchev himself, in an interview to the observer of "The New York Times", Sultzberger, published by "Pravda" on September 10th, 1961, stated: "Of course, we consider Yugoslavia a socialist country". Is such a statement not contrary to the Declaration of the 81 fraternal Communist and Worker's Parties? Should it not be thought that the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with this statement was aiming at "appeasing" the resentment of the Yugoslav revisionist leaders and at making to them publicly known, that what is written in the Moscow Declaration, or also in some other document of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, is formal, while his viewpoints are other?

Why is such a thing happening? Why is with such a persistence being held such a benevolent stand towards a gang of renegades of Marxism-Leninism, submerged head and feet in the scum of revisionism and of treachery and, at the same time, are being rabidly attacked the communist and workers' parties which have always stood loyal to the revolutionary teachings of Marxism-Leninism and the cause of socialism?

The Party of Labor of Albania could not and cannot agree with such an opportunistic stand towards the dangerous revisionist gang of Tito, which is an agency of imperialism and an enemy of socialism and communism, of the Party of Labor of Albania and the Albanian people. In the struggle against the modern revisionism especially against Tito's revisionist clique, the Party of Labor of Albania has taken and always takes into consideration the valuable teachings of great Lenin, who stressed powerfully that opportunism constitutes a serious danger for the very existence of the socialist order.

These important teachings of Lenin were all the more understandable for our party, because it had proved on its back what does Yugoslav revisionism mean, not only in theory but also in practice. Because, in fact, Tito's clique has never renounced, either before 1948 or after 1955, the plots and diversion against the People's Republic of Albania and the Party of Labor of Albania, but, on the contrary, has increased them. Therefore, the struggle of the Party of Labor of Albania against the Yugoslav revisionism was an important internationalist task of our party as a Marxist-Leninist party and at the same time its sacred duty to defend our socialist homeland against the aims and the plots of the Yugoslav revisionists. Some of the Soviet leaders did not like this stand of the Party of Labor of Albania, which was contrary to and constituted a hinderance for their schemes of rapprochement and embrace with the Titoite clique. The slogans started circulating that the "Albanians are hotblooded", "they view things narrowly and conduct the struggle against the Yugoslav leaders from the positions of nationalism", that the "Albanians want to capture the flag of antirevisionism" and that "they are increasing the value of Tito's clique", etc. etc. But our Party did not waver from its principled positions and continued consistently and uncomprimisingly the struggle against the Yugoslav revisionists. This stand of our Party has never been to the liking of N. Khrushchev and is one of the reasons explaining his so fierce a stand against the Party of Labor of Albania and its leadership.

The stand of N. Khrushchev's group towards the Yugoslav revisionism, in fact, is not a stand different only from that of the Party of Labor of Albania, but from that of all the international communist and workers' movement, from the stand expressed in the Moscow Declarations of 1957 and 1960, where revisionism is described as the main danger in the international communist and workers' movement, and the Yugoslav revisionism as underminer of the socialist camp and the forces of peace. Thus, it is obvious that the Soviet leadership is trying to mitigate the struggle against opportunism and revisionism in the communist movement. Here lies also the source of all the attempts to distort the clear thesis of the two Moscow Declarations on revisionism as the main danger in the communist and workers' movement and to bring to the foreground the struggle against dogmatism. For our party it has become clearer with every passing day that by accepting by words the need of fighting against revisionism and not doing it in fact, N. Khrushchev and those who follow him, under the pretext of the struggle against dogmatism, are fighting against Marxism-Leninism, are making efforts to reject the fundamental theses of the revolutionary doctrine of proletariat precisely as Tito tried to do earlier and as have tried to do in the past the opportunists and revisionists of the various brands.

What were the consequences of the spreading of the various opportunist viewpoints, of the unprincipled struggle against J. V. Stalin and the policy of reconciliation with Tito's treacherous revisionist clique, persistently pursued by N. Khrushchev and his group? Although they raise to the skies, with a great noise, "the wonderful consequences" allegedly brought about by the "criticism of the personality cult of J. V. Stalin" and the "normalisation of relations with Yugoslavia", although they present the questions as if with the 20th Congress a new era started in the development and further strengthening of the world communist movement, the facts speak entirely to the contrary. These distorted viewpoints and actions became a banner in the hands of the opportunist and revisionist elements in many countries to launch their revisionist attacks against the Marxist-Leninist parties. This happened in the Communist Parties of the United States of America, of Denmark, of Netherlands, of Italy, of France, of Great Britain, etc. Under the influence of the opportunist viewpoints presented by N. Khrushchev to the 20th Congress, revisionism was revived and assumed a large dissemination in many communist and workers' parties, becoming an extremely serious danger for the entire international communist movement. Precisely under the slogans of the struggle against the "Stalinist despotism", borrowed from the "secret" report "On the personality cult and its consequences", which, strange enough, fell into the hands of the reactionary circles of the West and was reproduced by them in tons, the imperialist reaction and the modern revisionists, especially the Belgrade revisionist renegades, enemies of socialism, of the Soviet Union and of the peoples of all the countries of the socialist camp, organized the counter-revolutionary actions against the socialist order in Poland and the counter-revolutionary coup in Hungary. Precisely under the protection of these opportunist theses, of the attacks against Stalin and the appeasing attitudes of N. Khrushchev with the Yugoslav revisionists, Tito's renegade gang was enlivened still more, it was given free hand to develop broadly its undermining activity against the socialist camp and the international communist movement.

For us it is clear that such a conclusion is not acceptable either to N. Khrushchev, or to his followers. But it is logical to raise the question: Why precisely after the 20th Congress were immediately enlivened the renegades and the revisionists in the ranks of the communist and workers' parties of the different countries, the Yugoslav revisionist clique raised again its head and all of them together launched a frontal attack against Marxism-Leninism? Why, let us say, the theses of the 19th or the 18th Congresses of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union did not become their banner? There is only one explanation here because some theses which were set at the 20th Congress were of an opportunist nature, therefore they constituted the ideological food for the renegades and the revisionists in their struggle against Marxism-Leninism; because the stand towards Stalin and Tito's clique were anti-Marxist, therefore they were utilised so successfully by the enemies of Marxism and socialism for their aims.

These bitter consequences were felt in Albania, too. In our country, the opportunist elements of the Tuk Jakova and Bedri Spahiu type, as well as many other elements expelled from the party for anti-party activity were activated and with the direct instigation of the Yugoslav revisionists, organized the plot at the Party conference for the city of Tirana in April 1956. It is known that a major role in this plot was played by the traitor Panajot Plaku, an old agent of the Yugoslav espionage, to whom, after he fled from the country, N. Khrushchev proposed ever since 1957 to be given political asylum to him in the Soviet Union. The slogans of these traitors were the demagogical slogans of "liberalisation and democratisation of the proletarian dictatorship", "of normalisation of relations with Yugoslavia", "of rehabilitation of Koçi Xoxe and other anti-party elements condemned earlier", etc. It is significant that precisely at that time, in April-May 1956, the Soviet leadership, through M. Suslov and P. Pospyelov tried to persuade our Party to rehabilitate the traitor Koçi Xoxe, an enemy of the party and the Albanian people, an agent of Tito's clique, shot for his hostile activity which was aimed at liquidating the Party and the people's power and at turning Albania into a seventh republic of Titoite Yugoslavia.

N. Khrushchev's anti-Marxist stand on the above-mentioned questions caused thus a great damage to our common cause, socialism and communism.

However, the international communist and worker's movement managed to cope successfully with the onslaught of the revisionist renegades. The ranks of the communist and workers' parties were strengthened and this is due to the strength and firmness of the fraternal communist and workers' parties, to the vitality of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism. And thus will always happen. Marxism-Leninism is the banner of victory, therefore its enemies, the revisionists and opportunists, have failed and will always fail shamefully.

From the above said it follows clearly that the nature of our disagreements has been entirely ideological and political, that our Party has not agreed with some opportunist viewpoints and actions of N. Khrushchev as concerns some vital questions of the present-day world development and the international communist and workers' movement, viewpoints which are contrary to some of the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism and constitute a serious violation of the 1957 and 1960 Declarations of the communist and workers' parties. But the existence of these wrong viewpoints among the Soviet leaders is only half of the evil. The greatest evil is that they try to impose at any condition their opportunistic concepts to all the communist and worker's parties, not stopping for this purpose even before the pressure, blackmail and brutal attacks against those fraternal parties and their leaders that do not agree with the revisionist theses of N. Khrushchev, that oppose them and resolutely defend Marxism-Leninism. Here lies the greatest evil, here lies also the cause that relations between our country and the Soviet leadership have become tense. Seeing that his multifarious attempts to kneel down the Party of Labor of Albania and to impose on it his anti-Marxist viewpoints have failed in face of the firm Marxist-Leninist stand of our Party and wanting to justify before his party and before the international communist movement his impermissible, hostile activity against the Party of Labor of Albania and the People's Republic of Albania, N. Khrushchev has gone over to wild and public slanders like those he and other Soviet leaders made at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The fact that he chose the rostrum of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to carry out "the trial" against our Party, the fact that he deceived the representatives of some fraternal parties to express themselves uncomradely against our Party in their greetings to the Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, throws light on his putschist methods, on his tactic of surprise, on the onesided imposing of his desire upon the international communist and workers' movement, on the non-observance of the fundamental principles governing the relations between the fraternal communist and worker's parties, which have been established jointly and have been outlined in the Moscow Declarations.

To examine the activity of a communist and workers' party, to express the viewpoint whether it stands on correct positions or not, can judge only an international forum, an international meeting of the communist and workers' parties, after hearing in detail the arguments of that party. But N. Khrushchev feared to ask the convocation of such a meeting because he was convinced that he would not succeed in condemning our Party of Labor. For this reason he did not invite to the 22nd Congress our Party also, because its word would bring to the fore the truth on the Albanian-Soviet relations, would expose his anti-Marxist viewpoints and activity, would reject all his entirely unfounded slanders and charges.

The method used by the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to attack one-sidedly our Party is known in the international communist and workers' movement. He applied this tactics at Bucharest, too, where with false and one-sided charges he tried to kneel down Marxist-Leninist parties and to compromise by means of a quick, unpondered and hasty pronunciation the representatives of the fraternal parties, but that despite his efforts, he did not succeed. On the contrary, N. Khrushchev was forced to agree to the holding of the Moscow meeting in November 1960, where correct debates were conducted, where it was clearly seen that his viewpoints did not meet with the enthusiastic support of the participants, and this is expressed also in the very documents approved by the representatives of 81 parties and which N. Khrushchev is brutally violating in all his activity. Therefore he, in order to attack our Party, since he feared to convene an international conference, resorted to his putschist methods, utilising for this purpose the 22nd Congress.

In this way, N. Khrushchev has effectively sabotaged any future international meeting also, because by attacking one-sidedly and publicly our Party, he has put the Party of Labor of Albania on conditions of unequality.

At the 22nd Congress, N. Khrushchev, and his followers charged our Party that it allegedly, with its actions, is "disrupting the unity, is splitting the socialist camp and the international communist movement". One must have lost any feeling of responsibility or seriousness to say such a thing. Who is in reality undermining our unity, the Party of Labor of Albania or the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headed by N. Khrushchev? Our Party, which has always observed the principle that our disagreements should be solved through the party way, on basis of the principles of the Moscow Declarations of 1957 and 1960, or the Soviet leadership, which has trampled under foot these principles and has embarked upon the anti-Marxist path of pressure, blackmail and is openly calling for counter-revolution in socialist Albania? The Party of Labor of Albania has never spoken publicly about our differences, it has only through the party way and at party meetings, openly and courageously criticised the wrong viewpoints and actions of the Soviet leaders, while N. Khrushchev was the first to speak publicly from the rostrum of the 22nd Congress not only about the existence of our differences but also to vomit gall, to slander at full daylight against our Party and people's power, presenting it as a "regime of terror, where right and left there are prisons and firing squads", using the language of Rankovich, who has said that "in Albania there reign the barbed wire and the frontier guard boot". Our Party stands for the unity, for its further strengthening, but for a sound, iron unity, not for an anaemic and sick unity. Presicely because it stands for the iron unity of the international communist and workers' movement and the socialist camp, it has courageously and through the party way criticised N. Khrushchev's anti-Marxist manifestations and actions, which weaken this unity.

We greatly regret the fact that some leaders of the fraternal parties joined with N. Khrushchev's wrong viewpoints. We don't want to seek the causes which forced them to take this stand (we understand very well the difficult position in which they have found themselves), but can their onesided position be called correct, a priori, when the majority of the representatives of the fraternal parties have no knowledge of the development of relations between our Party and the Soviet leadership. Is it correct to take this or that stand, when one hears only the arguments of one side, while the other side has been deprived of the right to state its own viewpoint? Or in the communist movement should be established new principles, according to which the big one must be heard, the little one not, the big is right, while the little is always wrong? According to our opinion, such a reasoning is not at all correct and is not compatible with the Leninist norms of relations between the fraternal parties. Such a stand does not help the strengthening of the unity of the international communist and workers' movement, the strengthening of the socialist camp, but weakens it and will later create great troubles.

In spite of this, at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, N. Khrushchev was not supported by all the representatives of the fraternal communist and workers' parties. Out of the 80 foreign delegations which attended the proceedings of the Congress and spoke or sent by writing their greetings, 34 representatives of the fraternal parties did not join the N. Khrushchev's slanders and charges against our Party, they did not speak about the disagreements existing between the Party of Labor of Albania and the soviet leadership. Surely, many of them may have their remarks as concerns the work of the Party of Labor of Albania, but at the 22nd Congress, which was the congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, of a definite party, they did not consider it appropriate to speak about a question which concerns the entire international communist movement, taking thus a correct Marxist-Leninist stand. We must say also that even the mass of the home delegates to the 22nd Congress did not express themselves about the Soviet-Albanian disagreements, they did not support N. Khrushchev in his attacks and slanders against the Party of Labor of Albania. Out of 88 delegates who took part in discussions in the congress, only 14 spoke against our Party. They all were members of the soviet leadership.

Our Party of Labor thanks for their principled and correct stand both the representatives of the fraternal communist and workers' parties who did not support N. Khrushchev in his onesided attacks against our Party and the delegates of the glorious Communist Party of Lenin, who, preserving the bolshevik traditions and the leninist principles of objective judgements of any question, did not support N. Khrushchev in this anti-Marxist act.

From the rostrum of the 22nd Congress, among the numerous slandering charges, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union spoke also of the allegedly lack of democracy in our Party, of the allegedly violations of the Leninist norms in its inner life. This, of course, is an open interference in the internal affairs of our Party, but despite this we can say to these "defenders" of democracy: Look better your business, for not in the Party of Labor of Albania, but in your parties there are many scandalous examples of the violation of the most elementary rules of democracy. Dmitri Polyansky, on attacking the anti-party group, and especially comrade Kliment Voroshilov, surely refrained himself from telling in detail all the backstage he and his companions had organised at the time of the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in summer 1957.

Poliansky has hidden this from the congress, but he has told this their "friend" Liri Belishova, who reported it to our party. Let us take another example. When the Tirana tribunal gave the deserved verdict against the agents of U.S. imperialism, of Yugoslavia and Greece, Teme Sejko and company, out of the whole press of the European people's democracies, only the newspaper "Trud", the organ of the Bulgarian working class, reported correctly this trial. But immediately, within the day, by the most "democratic" methods, it was announced that the president and the two secretaries of the Central Council of the Bulgarian Trade Unions had been dismissed from their posts. And this was because the revisionist Tito on the same day lodged a serious protest with the Bulgarian Government in connection with the report given on the Tirana trial by this newspaper. Finally, those who speak of internal democracy and of the observance of the party norms, we are referring here especially to Palmiro Togliatti, does he consider regular, democratic his action at the 22nd Congress when he spoke and condemned our Party? He did not know before what has happened and how the relations between our Party and the Soviet leadership have been developed. At least our Party has not given the Italian Communist Party any material. His Central Committee had not adopted before any decision by which to denounce our party and thus to authorise its representatives to condemn it. At least we do not know of any such fact. Then of what democracy are speaking these leaders who scandalise themselves without cause for the fate of a person and who when it is the question of the fate of a party, of 50,000 communists and an entire people, make offending statements without any responsibility and in flagrant contradiction with the elementary rules not only of the party democracy, but also of the simple logic and human conscience? Palmiro Togliatti threw at us the Roman anathema, by charging us that we are splitting the unity of the international communist movement. On what did Togliatti rely when he a few years ago attacked publicly the Soviet socialist system and preached polycentrism and the zones of influence in the international communist movement? He has not and will not have any fact against us, but with his own anti-Marxist theses he has greatly served the revisionist Tito. Nevertheless, strangely enough, nobody rose against Togliatti's revisionist viewpoints.

N. Khrushchev, who speak so much of democratic methods, patience and internationalism, has resorted against our party to the most anti-Marxist methods, methods which are entirely alien to the relations between the socialist countries. In order to subdue the Party of Labor of Albania, to prevent it from having its own viewpoint, to impose on it his anti-Marxist viewpoints, he and his followers have not stopped before any measure, not only as concerns the relations between our parties, but also as concerns the relations between our socialist states. Today we do not want to enter into detail and to dwell long on these questions, because there are many facts and countless documents which illustrate objectively these, but will mention that as a result of the adoption of anti-Marxist methods by the soviet leadership for the settlement of existing disagreements, as a result of the consecutive pressure both in the economic and the political and military fields, the relations between our country and the Soviet Union have been greatly aggravated. This process has started since the second half of last year, that is after the Bucharest meeting. Since then, N. Khrushchev, instead of agreeing to settle patiently the ideological and political disagreements existing between our Party and the Soviet leadership, made them public and extended them to the state relations also.

Thus in the economic field, all the credits the Soviet Union had accorded to our country for the third five year plan were suspended and this was done with a view of sabotaging the economic plan of our country; without any reason and onesidedly were withdrawn from Albania all the soviet specialists whom our economy badly needed and we had officially asked to stay; under the pretext of starting from this year with the repayment of the old credits (although according to the existing documents, this would begin after 1970), the Soviet side has almost entirely suspended the trade relations on a clearing basis, scholarships were cut to all the Albanian civilian and military students studying in the Soviet Union, etc., etc. The economic pressures have been accompanied with pressure and restrictive measures in the military field, too.

On the other hand, it is well known by all that the press of the People's Republic of Albania is continuously writing on the life and the successes of the Soviet Union in the communist building, supports the various moves and proposals the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Government concerning various international questions, whereas the Soviet press, to the contrary, since almost one and a half years has established a strict silence blockade against Albania. While it does not let escape the least chance to write even concerning a single positive word which some British lord has occassionally said, the Soviet press does no write a single line about Albania, let alone the Party of Labor of Albania, as if it did not exist at all on the earth either the People's Republic of Albania or the Albanian people, who are building up socialism and struggling for peace in the wolf's mouth, surrounded on all sides by the imperialists and their tools. The ice of silence was broken only at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union by N. Khrushchev, but it was broken only to slander and vomit gall against the Party of Labor of Albania and the People's Republic of Albania.

In these anti-Marxist and hostile actions towards the Albanian people, N. Khrushchev has been followed also by some leaders of the socialist countries of Europe. They are all together doing their utmost to isolate Albania economically, politically and militarily, by creating around her a "sanitary cordon". N. Khrushchev forgets that in the century of the triumph of Leninism there can be no "cordon" to isolate a people and a party which are firmly fighting for the triumph of socialism and of communism, there can be no "cordon", regardless of how organised and strong it may be, to resist to the Marxist-Leninist truth. Any "cordon" will be smashed and its organisers will shamefully fail.

The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union did not confine himself to this. Seeing that all his pressure, blockades and blackmail did not bring the result he desired, could not kneel down our Party and people, from the rostrum of the 22nd Congress he made an open call for the overthrowing by means of a counter-revolutionary coup the leadership of the Party of Labor of Albania, for the liquidation of the Party, something which he reserves himself to do even when it is the question of the governments of the capitalist countries, because he considers it an interference in the internal affairs. He said: "To put an end to the personality cult means for Shehu, Hoxha and others to give up in essence the commanding posts in the party and the state. But they do not want to do this. However we are convinced that the time will come when the Albanian communists, when the Albanian people, will have their say and then the Albanian leaders will have to give account for the damage they have caused to their country, to their people, to the cause of building of socialism in Albania". The Albanian people and the Albanian communists gave the reply to N. Khrushchev by means of hundreds and thousands of telegrams and letters, a part of which has been published by our press.

Our Party and people have heard continuously for 17 years in succession calls for the overthrow of our People's Power, for the liquidation of our Party and its leadership. They have heard and are hearing them every year from the U.S.A. State Department, from the U.S., British and other imperialists, from Franco's "Nationalist Spain" radio, from Tito's traitorous revisionist gang, from the Greek monarcho-fascists, etc. These have even hatched up plots to achieve their aims. We have heard now such calls also from Nikita Khrushchev, who in fact is joining them in the hostile activity against the Albanian people and its Party of Labor. On what have the imperialists and their tools relied in their activity against the people's power and the Party in our country? Their army has been the scum of our society, the degenerate and anti-party elements, people sold to the foreign imperialist intelligence services, whom our people recalls only with a feeling of deep hate, contempt and scorn. This will be also the army of Nikita Khrushchev. And it can not be otherwise. The whole our people, old and young, all the honest and patriotic people of our homeland, party and non-party people, have rallied today more than ever around our glorious Party and its correct Marxist-Leninist line, which expresses the vital interests of our people and meets the common interests of our great cause, socialism and communism. In the face of the iron unity of our Party and people, in the face of this invincible force, will shamefully fail all the hostile actions and the brutal interferences of Nikita Khrushchev, as have failed earlier and will always fail the entire hostile activity and all the plots of the imperialists, the Yugoslav revisionists, the Greek monarcho-fascists and other enemies of the Albanian people, its Party of Labor and the People's Republic of Albania.

At the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, N. Khrushchev accused our Party and its leadership of anti-Sovietism, considering any remark and criticism towards his anti-Marxist viewpoints and actions, made in party meetings and according to Leninist rules, an attack against the Soviet Union and the Soviet peoples. This is a monstrous slander and distortion. Our Party and people for 20 years in succession have been educated in the spirit of unbounded love and firm loyalty towards the glorious Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. They have demonstrated this love and loyalty by deeds in their common struggle against fascism, in their joint efforts to built up the socialist and communist society, for peace and the freedom of peoples, they have shown it by their unswerving and principled struggle against our common enemies – the imperialists and the modern revisionists, especially after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and after the counter-revolution in Hungry, when the enemies of socialism launched wild attacks and slanders against the Soviet order and Soviet soldiers were attacked on the back. The entire 20 year old heroic struggle and untiring activity of our party and people for the continuous tempering and strengthening of the sacred Albanian-Soviet friendship can not be liquidated so easily by means of some unfounded accusations and base slanders. The Albanian-Soviet friendship has deep roots, it will live in centuries, contrary to the desires and attempts of our criticizers.

Who does indeed defend the Soviet Union and its prestige, Nikita Khrushchev, who with his unprincipled attacks and slanders against J. V. Stalin has discredited the glorious Soviet Union, presenting it like a country where the fiercest terror has reigned, the same as in the Hitlerite Germany, or the Party of Labor of Albania that has defended and is defending the Soviet Union from the fierce attacks of the imperialist and revisionist propaganda, which Nikita Khrushchev has provided with weapons? Who does defend the Soviet Union and its prestige, Nikita Khrushchev who with his anti-Marxist actions, attacks, pressure and blockades against the People's Republic of Albania is providing with weapons the imperialists to stain before the world public opinion the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, or the Party of Labor of Albania, which has shown and is showing that his anti-Marxist actions have nothing in common with the principles and the internationalist traditions of the glorious Soviet Union and its great Party of Lenin, that they are an unfortunate and temporary sickness in their sound body.

Our Party heard with patience what was said at the 22nd Congress in its address. We, too, are saying our own viewpoint concerning these questions. The Party of Labor of Albania, with calm and pure conscience, appeals to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, appeals to the new Central Committee elected by the 22nd Congress to judge with Leninist equity, with objectivity and calmness, not onesidedly, on the situation created in the relations between our two parties and our two countries. Our Party has always been ready, for the sake of the unity of the Communist movement and the socialist camp, of the interests of our countries, to settle the existing disagreements. But it has always been and is of the opinion that these questions should be solved correctly and only in a Marxist-Leninist way, in the conditions of equality and not of pressure and dictate. We hope for and are confident in the sense of justice of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Our Party and people, regardless of the attacks, slanders and the hostile actions directed against them, will guard untouched in their hearts the pure feelings of friendship with the fraternal peoples of the Soviet Union. Our Party has taught us to love the Soviet Union, the homeland of the great Lenin and Stalin, both in good and bad times. For us the glorious Soviet Union and the Soviet people, the great party of bolsheviks, have been, are and remain the most beloved friends of our hearts, our liberators from the fascist yoke, our loyal and resolute allies in the struggle for the upbuilding of socialism in our country. With the Soviet Union, with the Soviet people, with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union we have been and will be linked for ever. Our Party and people have and are following with a special sympathy the glorious successes and efforts achieved by the Soviet peoples, under the leadership of their glorious Communist Party, in all the fields of communist construction and consider them also as victories of the Albanian people in the joint struggle for the triumph of the great cause of socialism and communism. We are deeply convinced that the objectives and the tasks set by the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union will be achieved as always successfully, for the good of the peoples of the Soviet Union, of the entire socialist camp, to the benefit of the sacred cause of socialism and communism, of peace and the freedom of the people of the whole world.

Our Party and people, as always, will struggle for the cause of socialism and communism united in the socialist camp, alongside the fraternal peoples of the Soviet Union, alongside the fraternal Chinese people, alongside all the peoples of the countries of the socialist camp.

Comrades!

The entire 20-year old life and activity of our Party, as well as the facts of the present day reality, show clearly that our Party has always had a correct general line, that in connection with the present day important questions preoccupying the international communist movement too, particularly in connection with the question of the Albanian-Soviet relations, it stands on correct marxist-leninist and internationalist positions.

Deeply convinced that they stand for the truth, our people and Party, united like a single body, with a calm and pure conscience and a firm determination, will in the future too, follow unswervingly their correct path. And in this path they will win.

A guarantee for this is our heroic and indomitable people, our glorious party, the Party of the popular revolution, the Party which during these 20 years won over fascism and brought freedom to our people and homeland, which triumphed over the backwardness, over hunger and ignorance, and has embarked our country on the road to socialism, to progress and culture, the Party which, as a loyal offspring of our heroic people, has frustrated any provocation and plot which was aimed at bringing back the enslavement and poverty to our homes. A guarantee for our future victories will be our support and friendship with the Soviet peoples, with the Chinese people, with all the friendly peoples of the socialist camp and others, with which our Party, as a party loyal to the principles of the proletarian internationalism, has linked with an everlasting and invincible friendship our small but heroic people.

We are experiencing some temporary difficulties due to the fact that we have to face not only the attacks and the intrigues of our sworn enemies, the U.S. and other imperialists, their allies and lackeys – the Yugoslav revisionists, but because we have to repulse also the new slanders and attacks which are being made against us. But the difficulties have never scared and bent either our Party, or our people. By closing our ranks around the Party, by strengthening the vigilance, by multiplying our efforts to successfully realise, better than ever, the tasks for the fulfilment of the state plan in all the fields, we shall succeed. We are convinced that in this struggle and in these efforts we shall have the support of all our friends, of all the peoples of the socialist countries, including first and foremost the Soviet people, of all the communists of the world, including first and foremost the Soviet communists, who sooner or later will see that the blow directed against our Party and people is unjust, is dangerous for all the communists of the world.

With this confidence we are celebrating the great holiday of the 44th anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution and the great holiday of the 20th anniversary of the founding of our glorious Party. With this confidence, with the revolutionary banner of the victorious Leninism, with the unfurled banner of our heroic Party, we, the Albanian communists, together with our entire patriotic and fighting people, shall march forward with sure steps towards new victories, for the glory of Marxism-Leninism, for the glory of communism, for the glory of our socialist homeland.

Long live the 44th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!

Long live the 20th anniversary of the Party of Labor of Albania!

Glory to the victorious Marxism-Leninism, the banner of the victories of our Party and people!